Second Chance



  Second Chance

  Copyright 2015 June Beyoki

  Table of Contents

  Acknowledgements

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Epilogue

  About June Beyoki

  Acknowledgements

  To Michael whom I cherish and love always,

  and to my children, David and Crystal, who make life wonderful.

  Prologue

  It was love at first sight for Andrew and Lisa. They could talk about anything in the world and were married within a year. Andrew started a technology company and worked hard to make money for their young family. Years of hard work has finally started to pay off and his business was going to have that breakthrough, when a trip to the doctor threatened to rip their lives apart. Would they become stronger or would they succumb to the dreadful disease?

  Chapter One

  Andrew

  “No, no, no…..it can’t be true,” Andrew said as if trying to convince himself that he was in a nightmare that he would soon wake up from.

  Doctor Shawn was standing next to his bed when he delivered the dreadful news.  Liza was on the other side of the bed with tears in her eyes like a dam threatening to explode. She had asked “How long does he have without treatment?”

  “Six months, maybe less.”

  There was a moment of silence before Doctor Shawn continued “In my line of work, I have seen many situations like this. You may find your friends and family advising or recommending you to opt for alternative medication. The best thing for you now is to listen to your doctor and follow his advice. Please don’t think that I am being snobbish, but alternative medication rarely works and the best chance you have is going through the necessary treatments that your doctor thinks fit.”

  Lisa’s eyes were red with tears but she managed to nod her head before the doctor left us. I just felt like dying right at that moment.

  Lisa

  Two Months Ago

  The past month has been very disturbing as Andrew has been having bouts of unexplained fever which could not be controlled after numerous visits to the doctor’s clinic. After the third visit to the clinic, the doctor advised Andrew to get admitted into a hospital for further tests.

  He was referred to a general practitioner at a private hospital and had numerous scans, x-rays and endoscopic ultrasound which did not show any conclusive cause to his problem. They found an infection in Andrew’s intestines which did not seem serious enough to cause the fevers but everything else was good. The doctors had nothing else on his case and treated him for the infection. One week of heavy medication and antibiotics did nothing to relieve the sickness.

  “We might have to consider operating on Andrew and removing a section of his intestine. It will the last resort unless his fever comes down,” Doctor Michael said. Then the surgeon drew an image of intestines on a piece of paper while explaining the problem to me.  So it was quite a relief when Andrew started to respond to the last round of antibiotics.

  That was two months ago. Those few weeks at the hospital were nerve wrecking and I had hoped that that episode is history. But now his fever is back and he is shivering all the time. I knew that something was really wrong. We drove to St. Anne’s Hospital and admitted Andrew that Wednesday morning.

  “I am really really cold….cannot stop shivering.”

  The nurses were against the extra covers I brought for Andrew but his shivering would not stop. The air-condition temperature was always kept at a low to help control possible infections.

  Again the doctors are doing some scans,  x-rays and blood tests. Waiting felt like forever for  news I knew was dreadful.

  Andrew

  Doctor Leanne came the third day of Andrew’s stay at St. Anne’s Hospital.

  “I have the blood tests results and I am concerned that your white blood cells count is way above normal.”

  “And…?”

  “This usually indicates that something is wrong with your blood production. It may or may not be something serious where you may need a bone marrow transplant. It is best to be tested and consulted with a Hematologist,” said Doctor Leanne and quickly wrote a recommendation letter to the hematologist, Doctor Shawn.

  Chapter Two

  Lisa

  It is a routine now to go to the hospital early in the morning and after work in the evening. I try to be home by 8.30pm every night to make sure that I see the children before they go to bed.

  “How is daddy?” they asked.

  “He’s still having fever. The doctors are giving him another type of antibiotic.”

  “Is he going to be okay?”

  “Let’s hope so, dear. The doctors are doing what they can. I’m sorry I have to come home late every night but I hope both of you understand the situation, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  The children have been very good and understanding. They were worried about their father but tried to manage things on their own and seldom bothered me unnecessarily.  

  I was at work when Andrew called and told me what Doctor Leanne said. I asked to go off work early to accompany him to Doctor Shawn’s office. We waited for awhile before Andrew was ushered in and the doctor immediately did a bone marrow analysis on him.

  I felt my whole world crashing down when Doctor Shawn said “He has a blood disease.” I didn’t quite understand the phrase ‘blood disease’ so I asked, “Is it leukemia?” which was then confirmed by the doctor.

  I had suspected the worst but was not prepared for the confirmation and tears welled up in my eyes making it difficult to talk. A moment passed and while I was trying to control my tears,  asked the doctor whether it was aggressive.

  Dr Shawn looked at me with compassion and said “All leukemias are aggressive. Andrew has a leukemia called AML which is short for ‘Acute Myeloid Leukemia’ with subtype ‘M2’.”

  My head started to spin with all the ‘whats’, ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ with dread.

  Andrew

  I felt like this is it, the end of the road for me. This is how it is going to end. But I did not want it to end, I am not going to die without a fight. It was going to be hell of a challenge but I was given no choice.

  Doctor Shawn was right. When news got around that I was very sick, some well meaning friends recommended that I opt for alternative medication and some tried to promote some direct selling products. Lisa and I had graciously said we would think about it. In the two-bedded hospital room, I asked Lisa “What should we do?”

  “The Doctor said that it is aggressive and you only have six months without treatment. I think the only choice we have is to go the doctor’s way and do chemotherapy,” said Lisa in between tears.

  Earlier, I had heard Lisa asking Doctor Shawn on the costs of treatment and I knew that we could not afford the high costs involved. Doctor Shawn said he could write a recommendation letter for me to transfer to the General Hospital.

  “Okay, then we should do it at the General Hospital,” I said sounding stronger than what I was feeling.

  Lisa was distraught but she was a fighter. Her feisty behaviour was what attracted me to her. After the initial shock and distress, both of us knew that we had to be strong and go forward together. A week later, I was transferred to the Hemato Department at the General Hospital.

  Lisa

  The good thing about transferring from a private hospital to the Government’s General Hospital was that you hold a recommendation letter and get to go straight to the specialist without first having to consult the medical officer.

  “If you can, try to register for a first class room. It is less crowded and that would minimise the risk of inf
ection.”

  The registration took a long time and it took them forever to check for room availability. Finally the nurse took us to Room 8A on the fourth floor. The room was simple with two beds, a bathroom and a sink. Not as fancy and nice as Glentel Hospital but it was clean and sufficient.

  With Andrew’s tests handed over to the doctors, we were soon advised on the course of chemotherapy which includes four-courses of induction, mydec and hidec over a period of four to five months.

  “Daddy has been transferred to the General Hospital today,” I told the children.

  “Is it a good hospital?”

  “Yes, I think so.”

  Chapter Three

  Andrew

  I didn’t mind the simple necessities at the General Hospital and the doctors seemed to be efficient.

  There were streams of doctors and housemen making four rounds a day starting with blood tests  at 4.30 every morning. Blood tests results would be ready after two hours just as the doctors come for visiting rounds.

  The Head of Department, Doctor Goshin, said that at the end of the three or four courses of chemotherapy it is advisable to do a transplant. She had asked me to get my siblings to come to the hospital to check for compatibility.

  ‘Do you have any brothers or sisters?’

  I nodded.

  ‘How many?’

  ‘Thirteen of us.’

  ‘Then there is a good chance that we can find a match among your siblings.’

  ‘If I achieved remission after the chemotherapy, do I still have to go through a transplant?’

  ‘Yes, you do. If you achieve remission, it means that the disease is under control. But it may come back. With a transplant, you might see a cure. And for AML patients, there is no cure without a stem cell transplant.’

  I nodded in acknowledgement and thanked the good doctor. Sure, my siblings came to visit me but the visits were brief and short. No one tried to understand the disease. During their next visit, I brought up the matter of transplant and what the doctor said about testing for matching donor. It was disappointing but not surprising when no one made a move to see the doctor. They did not even try to understand the disease. Hello, I might die here. How sad, my siblings were willing to let me die. Why don’t they want to try to save me.

  Lisa called them to try to get them to talk to the doctors who would explain the process of stem cell transplant. But I knew my siblings better.

  ‘Lisa, we can’t force them to donate their stem cells.’

  ‘But they are your brothers and sisters. They have to save you, it’s not right that they do not. No harm will come to them. How can they be so cruel?’

  Lisa

  Andrew’s siblings were nothing like family. Although they were actual brothers and sisters from the same parents but they were only interested in their own interests. Selfish would not even describe them.

  But I had to try. The only thing I could do was try to get them to come to see the doctors to get an understanding of the disease as well as the process and more importantly whether there is any risk to them as donors. But there was nothing I could say to convince them. I will always remember my words to them “Please save your brother.”

  I have never begged anyone so desperately and felt so helpless in my entire life. Repeated pleadings and ‘pleases’ were met with empty silence. What else can I say or do to change their mind?

  The children were always updated on any new development on Andrew’s condition.

  “Why don’t they want to give their stem cells? Will anything happen to them if they donate? Will they die?”

  All very innocent and relevant questions.

  “Can we donate our stem cells to daddy?” they asked and my eyes filled with tears at their innocent faces with big big hearts and made a mental note to ask the doctor about that.

  Andrew

  When Lisa came to the hospital the next morning with her eyes swollen, I knew without being told what has transpired and I was worried about her.

  “Are you alright?” I asked. She just nodded her head and smiled.

  “Don’t worry. I will fight this disease and win even without my sibling’s help,” I said trying to sound the confidence I was not feeling.

  “Please try to talk to them again?” Lisa said.

  “What good will that do? I will only get more distressed. I just want to concentrate on doing what I can and fight for my life back. And to get back to you and the children. We will be stronger because of this."

  We looked at each other feeling hurt, fear, love and the feeling of the unknown all rolled into one. Tears were streaming down Lisa’s eyes although she tried to control it.

  Lisa

  I was so distraught after that telephone conversation with Andrew’s sister. I just could not understand them. How heartless they can be. They were not tight-knit but they were certainly on good terms. I would think that a decent sibling, a brother or sister, would willingly come forward to try save their brother who might be dying in six months.

  “I don’t understand how they can be so selfish and cold and unbelievably cruel”, Lisa cried as she told her sister, Karen, what has happened.

  I haven’t slept well for these two months and had not slept at all these two days. I have never liked them and now I hate them for not saving Andrew.

 

  Chapter Four

  Andrew

  “Good morning Andrew, how are you today?” Dr Goshin greets Andrew at the doorway.

  “Good morning doctor, I’m quite well for a man who is going to die,” replied Andrew and proceeded to tell the doctor that none of his siblings would donate.

  Doctor Goshin couldn’t resist the “Wow.”

  “Try not to worry. We will do what we can for you,” she said trying to put the patient at ease.

  Lisa caught Doctor Goshin as she was walking out, and asked her something about children being candidates but I couldn’t quite hear the words.

  The rain was hammering against the hospital windows as I waited for Lisa to come in and tell me what that was all about. It has been almost four months since the doctor said that I had only six months to live and now any hope for survival lies in  my own determination and the doctors I see every day.

  Andrew touched the chemo port that has been inserted under his right chest and made a promise to be strong. So far, he has achieved remission for three of the four courses of chemotherapy, including the last one with zero blast.

  After the talks with my siblings failed, we decided to search for third-party donors from local and overseas. After one month of searching and seven possible matches, we were informed that the HLA testings did not show a complete match. Another door closed.

  Doctor Goshin came yesterday and said, “We would like to do some tests to see whether you can use your own stem cells for an autologous transplant. It is usually not recommended for people with AML but since there are no matching donors, we think it is worth a try. So if it is alright with you, we will extract some samples for testing tomorrow.”

  “Okay,” I said. What more could I say? If the doctors are not giving up then I am definitely trying whatever possible ways for cure.

  The tests came back three weeks later confirming that my stem cells were healthy enough with no changes in the cytogenetics and I would be going through with an autologous transplant.

  Lisa

  Monday will be the day we travel to City Hospital for the extraction procedure. We were eager to have the transplant done as soon as possible. Although there is still a minor chance that it may not be successful, the doctors had convinced us that it is better than doing a transplant using a donor with a 8-over-10 matching as the risks of graft-versus-host-disease would be too great.

  The transplant involved a last dose of very strong chemotherapy which wipes out all the body’s immune system and reset it at zero. The following two weeks would be a dangerous time for Andrew without any immunity. The stem cells would then be infused into Andre
w’s body and time would only tell when his body would engraft and start making new blood cells.

  I was at Andrew’s side during the infusion when the nurse removed the frozen packets of stem cells from a big cylinder filled with liquid nitrogen. There were six packets which were infused one by one through an IV catheter on his thigh. The entire process took less than an hour.

  Andrew was very strong and brave these past few months at the hospital. He has never complained and even eats whatever I bring him even though he does not like these very healthy and nutritious food. But the transplant was giving him a very difficult experience and he has been needing help with simple tasks such as walking to the toilet.